Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Sunday he was “cautious but optimistic” that Malta was moving closer to a “gradual easing” of restrictive measures aimed at controlling the COVID-19 spread.
Speaking during an interview on Labour party media, Abela heralded the “disciplined” approach taken by people in obeying directives by the health authorities.
He cautioned, however, that lifting all directives just because numbers in recent days were low would be a mistake.
Abela emphasised any such lifting of these restrictions would need to take place in a staggered manner.
The prime minister said even once these measures begun to be lifted, the government would still need to strike a balance between firing up the economy and safeguarding people’s health.
Migration
During his interview, Abela raised the spectre of 700,000 migrants waiting to cross the Mediterranean from Libya.
Abela kept up his stringing criticism of what he termed as the Opposition’s attempt to “demoralise” the AFM by filing a criminal complaint calling for an investigation into migrant deaths at sea following the government’s decision to close Malta’s ports.
He said Opposition leader Adrian Delia had effectively endorsed the actions by Repubblika and MP Jason Azzopardi calling for a criminal investigation into these deaths.
Instead of doing their job on the frontline of Malta’s defence against COVID-19, these AFM soldiers will instead be busy defending themselves against these accusations, Abela said.
“Now is not the moment to play these political games”.
Abela also hit out at NGO Repubblika’s attempt to force Malta and Italy to re-open their ports saying this undermined the government’s efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the health authorities had issued strict directives to stop people coming to Malta by air or sea.
Opening Malta’s ports would have undermined the sacrifices being made by everyone, he claimed.
Abela said had the European Court of Human Rights upheld Repubblika’s request, Malta would have been faced with an “influx” of migrants.
He said those organising the trafficking of migrants in Libya had a lot to lose from the government’s decision to close the country’s ports, and would attack those trying to stop them “from all angles”.
“The government took a decision in favour of public health. The Opposition tried to put members of the AFM and the prime minister in jail for safeguarding our country’s interests, Abela said.
Waste
On the government’s waste management plans, Abela said the take up of land at Magħtab had been reduced by 70%.
The original plans had caused uproar from farmers.
Abela said these plans would once and for all solve the perennial problem of land being taken for new landfills.
Waste was an endemic problem, yet no long-term solutions had ever been sought, he said.
He vowed the government would act quickly to implement its plans.
Touching on his first 100 days in office, Abela said he was proud to have the backing of the Cabinet and parliamentary group during these challenging times.
Abela said the government had been faced with unprecedented challenges that had impacted the whole world during this time.
He said the government had managed to keep Malta on an even keel throughout, and vowed it would hit the ground running once the crisis was over to once against start promoting growth.